The Marauder's Game
by Hermionegirl4ever
Summary: The summer after HBP, Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off on their new adventure. A game they open will take them on their quest to destroy Voldemort...but can they play without getting killed? Inspired by Jumanji. No slash. No pairings.


**Story Summary: The summer following their sixth year of Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow. Without thinking of the consequences, they pick up a game that will take them on their next adventure. They soon realize that this game could lead to the destruction of Lord Voldemort…but the fun has just begun.**

**Important Notice: This story has been inspired by the movie Jumanji. Some of the riddles are taken from the movie and will be credited when used. Neither the characters nor the idea of the game belong to me. Don't sue me. **

**The Marauder's Game**

**Chapter 1**

Bill and Fleur's wedding was incredible. There were hundreds of people present, if not more; they all had cake and were now dancing. The trio had been planning this for quite a while, and it was time to take action.

Very discreetly they snuck into the Weasley household and gathered their belongings, which had been secretly packed last night. It was a big party, and by the time someone noticed that all three of them left the party, they would be far gone on their journey. Both Mrs. Weasley and Remus Lupin noticed that something was up with the three of them. Instead of grinning and cheering with the others, they seemed melancholic and depressed; neither Mrs. Weasley nor Lupin could figure out why.

They didn't want to leave. They would much rather stay home for the rest of the summer, finish their schooling at Hogwarts, and become trained Aurors. But Dumbledore's murder made Harry realize that he always knew he would have to do this; Ron and Hermione knew Harry had to do this; and they were going with Harry wherever he went.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione each left letters for the rest to read, explaining what they were doing and why. They did not, of course, tell them were they were going, for it would be too easy to track them down and stop them, but they gave away enough information for the Order to be assured of their safety.

They shrunk their trunks, put them in their robe pockets, and made to leave the house. They knew they were leaving the sense of security, their chance to have a "normal" last school year…but this simply had to be done. There was no other way.

With one last look at the Weasley household, and another glance at the party going on in the backyard (which had been magically enlarged to fit all these people), they each Apparated away and appeared moments later at Godric's Hollow.

Harry gaped at the house before him. His parents' house. _His_ house. Harry took a deep breath in and glanced at his two best friends. After receiving two reassuring smiles, he pushed the creaking door open and stepped inside.

The house was very dusty, to say the least. Spider webs covered almost every corner, and there was that smell that was caused from lack of oxygen and air, and also from the fact that no one had lived in this house in the past 16 years. With his friends at his sides, Harry wandered around the house, looking for useful items and information while admiring the sight of his own home, however dirty it may be.

"Harry, where do you want to start looking?" Ron asked timidly. He knew this was a very delicate situation.

"I think the living room and family room for now…we'll move to the kitchen and the den, then we'll go upstairs." The other two nodded at him and set to work.

They had been looking for an hour now, but so far they found nothing. The living room had nothing useful in it. In the family room Harry had found another album of family pictures…he smiled weakly and took the album with him. As they continued on to the kitchen, Harry noticed there was a piece of parchment that was still stuck onto the refrigerator with a magnet. The note was unintelligible. As he expected, there was nothing useful in the kitchen. He did, however, discover that this house was very sentimental to him, and decided he would remodel this house and live in it if he survived this last quest.

They then moved upstairs, and Harry found that it was a bit harder for him to be here. His room…his baby crib, the dresser…dusty toys…tears rolled down his cheeks. Hermione came behind him and hugged him lightly. Ron put a hand on his shoulder.

They intended on moving on to the next room, when suddenly Harry spotted something. It was under the crib, but it was glowing. Cautiously, Harry moved closer. It was a wand.

He had never seen anything like it. It was glowing bright green, the color of his eyes…the color of his mother's eyes…and then realized dawned upon him. His mother's wand.

He didn't know why it was glowing green, or why ministry officials hadn't picked it up. He had never really thought about what the Ministry does with the wands of the deceased. Do they destroy the wand? Do they keep it somewhere? Either way, his mother's wand was lying on the floor, and as Harry moved closer, he could feel the aura of the wand getting stronger.

Hermione and Ron stared in awe. Hermione looked as if she was half in her mind to run to Hogwarts and look up wands in the library. As Harry reached for the wand, he felt as if the wand was almost drawn to him.

He didn't know how, he didn't know why…he didn't know how he knew…but he knew that he would be using both his wand and his mother's to destroy Voldemort. Somehow, this wand will help him.

Harry grabbed the wand and inserted it to his inner robe pocket. With one last glance at his old room, the three moved to his parents' bedroom.

Harry found that he couldn't rummage through their stuff. He couldn't look through everything, even if he might want some of the things in the future. He left the room as it was, and went downstairs.

As they were about to leave, Ron stopped in his place. "Harry, didn't you say you wanted to look through the den?"

"Oh yeah…I forgot about that. Let's go have a look…but I doubt we'll find anything else," he replied, cheering up at the fact that they weren't leaving yet.

To their surprise, the den was very helpful. It had a huge library, with all kinds of books about Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms. They took their time to look through them, and found them to be very useful indeed.

"Harry, this is amazing! I don't think the Hogwarts library even has these books!" Hermione exclaimed joyfully.

"Yeah, and you would know, Hermione, because you've read them all," Ron said somewhat grumpily.

Hermione faked a stern look, but then picked up one of the books and began reading happily.

Ron was fascinated with a random Quidditch book that was lying around.

Harry went on to the small cabinet at the other side of the room. To his mild surprise, he found that it was locked.

"_Alohamora_!" Harry said, his heart beating faster than ever. This is it…this is what he needs to defeat Voldemort…

But inside that cabinet was a medium sized box. But it wasn't just a box; it was a…board game?

On top of it was an envelope. With _his_ name on it. He opened it with anticipation and began reading.

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm sorry to say that if you are reading this letter, your mother and I are no longer alive. I can only hope that you find this in time. We both love you very much, and only wish you the best of luck on your journey._

_If you found this, then you are probably looking for something that would help you defeat Voldemort. Your mother and I knew of the prophecy, of course; that was part of the reason we went into hiding. There are a few things, however, that you most likely do not know, for not even Professor Dumbledore knew some of this information._

_I do not know whether Professor Dumbledore knew of this or not, but your mother and I suspect that Voldemort has created horcruxes. We are not sure how many of them there actually are, but this will help you find all of them. Horcruxes are items that are used to hide one's soul in them, making the person immortal, unless someone destroys his horcruxes._

_It gets more complicated. _

_Voldemort will have, undoubtedly, tried to kill you, and he most likely killed us in the process. Somehow, as I am hoping, you survived. There is something you must know, however. Voldemort did not only try to kill you because of the Prophecy. There is only one "easy" way to destroy Voldemort, and that is through this item. Voldemort did not know of it. He knew of his existence, and knew that the only person who would be able to utilize it would be you, but he did not know where or what it was…and therefore he targeted the only person who could use this against him. This item is a game. We named it after the Marauders, as you can see. It requires more than two people to play it, but you must choose your partners wisely. Each time you roll the dice, you will land on a square that will yield you a riddle. Once you solve the riddle, something will happen (most likely the answer to the riddle). It will either occur in your world, or it would transport you to the Marauder's world (the world of the game itself). You will have to get through these tasks, for each one will get you one step closer to defeating Voldemort. Each riddle will lead you to a different place, where you will have to overcome different obstacles. Eventually, however, it will lead you to Voldemort's horcruxes. Only when all the horcruxes are gone will you be able to kill Voldemort. When you finished your last task and have received your last riddle, and we surely hope you make it that far, say, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The game will then be over, and Voldemort will have been destroyed._

_I must warn you. This game is no joke. Once you begin playing it, it becomes a very serious matter, and whoever starts the game must finish it. _

_We love you, Harry. Always remember that._

_With much love, and wishing you the best,_

_Mum and Dad._

Harry gaped at the letter. Was this some sort of joke? That's it? A game would help him destroy Voldemort?

"Ron, Hermione…you might want to take a look at this," Harry said, a blank expression on his face.

Hermione and Ron immediately stopped looking through the books and went to Harry's side. They read the letter silently, Harry reading it once more to make sure he hadn't imagined it. When they finished reading, both Ron and Hermione looked at Harry for his reaction. Harry, however, was still starting at the letter.

"Do you think this is for real?" Ron asked, slightly trembling with fear.

"I dunno…"

"It might not be safe though…what if it's some sort of trap?" Ron said suspiciously. "I mean, anyone could have written that letter…what if this thing is just some portkey that will take you straight to Voldemort?"

"This is my dad's hand-writing…I've seen it before," Harry remarked. "I'm sure of it."

"But how do we know that this actually works? How do we know that this will really take us to the right places and lead us in the right direction?"

"Well," Hermione finally joined the conversation, "there's only one way to find out…"

And with eagerness, determination, and a thrill of anticipation, they opened The Marauder's Game.

**Like it? Hate it? Let me know! I've never seen this plot anywhere else, so hopefully it's original. I am currently writing four other fanfictions, so this might take a while to update….but as it is summer it will hopefully go fairly quickly. Please review and let me know what you think!**


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